Nazi-themed cafe in Indonesia shutting down

BANDUNG, Indonesia, July 22 (UPI) -- The owner of a Nazi-themed cafe in Jakarta said negative attention is leading him to close the business, which he said was not meant to endorse Nazi ideology.

Henry Mulyana, owner of the Soldatenkaffee cafe in Bandung, said he is closing his business after an article about the cafe's "World War II, German military theme" led to his receiving angry phone calls and emails from around the world, the Jakarta Globe reported Monday.

"A lot of people have called me expressing their anger. It's like the whole world is pressing down on me," Mulyana said.

"What I'm most worried about is I won't be able to leave the country because my name would have been blacklisted because of the article. I may have a hard time applying for a visa," he said. "That's what I'm worried about. I'm not too concerned about what the implications will be here in Indonesia.

Mulyana, a war re-enactor, said the theme was not meant to endorse Nazi ideology.

"I must stress that this is art. This is not about ideology, extremism and racism. On our website, we have explained what this cafe is all about. We are not pro-Nazi, we are not politically affiliated with Nazi ideology," he said.

Ayi Vivananda, the Bandung deputy mayor, said officials are looking into whether any laws were violated.

"We're checking it out, but for now there's no specific prohibition on displaying Nazi symbols," Vivananda said.

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